The Life

Life is real to anyone reading these lines. It’s the label for our physical animation. Yet Jesus pointed to two aspects of life—to an outer physical aspect and an inner soul. In Matthew 10:28, for instance: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” And, in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Both Paul and John also noted the inward spirit as our contact point with separate spiritual realms—either the holy or the unholy. As in Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 Corinthians 2, and 1 John 3:24-4:6.

With this sort of life in view, Nicodemus needed to be “born again” [John 3:1-21]. This pointed back to what Adam lost in “the day” he “died” in Eden. Communion with the Spirit, whose presence gives spiritual life, ended then and there. So while Adam’s physical life lasted for many years, he no longer had God’s eternal life. He was physically alive but spiritually dead.

Let’s listen again to Jesus, then, in light of our series on John 14:6—“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Which type of life did Jesus have in mind? Was he talking about a quality of life—as in “sound living”? Or, more broadly, of his creation of everything, as in Colossians 1:16? Probably both. Yet, mainly about the eternal life he shares with the Father, the Spirit, and with his followers.

We see this in John 17 where Jesus prayed to the Father and cited himself in the third person: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” [v3]. The Greek word, “know” points to relational intimacy. To something greater than mere information. In broader theology this refers to a union with Christ and the Trinity by being “partakers of the divine nature”—2 Peter 1:4—or of our being “in Christ.” This participation in Christ is a “new creation” as the Spirit unites us to God by sharing the Son’s eternal life.

So God’s gracious gift has two aspects: the spiritual and physical. First, an inward heart; and, with that, a spirit-hosting body of flesh. Our physical life is a common grace—given to all Adam’s offspring—while spiritual life is an eternal grace, given to Adam but abandoned by him and his offspring in Eden. God now restores this life to some, but not all, by Jesus through his Spirit.

Jesus, in John’s gospel, spoke of two key indicators of eternal life: first, that all newly born souls will love God and his word. Second, that everyone who shares his life will have a mutual love with each other. For the first we look to Jesus. In John 8:30-59 a collection of professed “believers” tried to kill Jesus. His exposure of their false faith came in his call for them to “abide in my word” [v31]. They immediately dismissed it. Jesus then pointed to underlying motives, “If God were your Father you would love me” [v42]. They were, in fact, of “the devil” [v44].

The second and aligned heart issue came later, in John 13:35. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is also the premise of the Son’s prayer in John 17:23, “…so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” The triune God who “is love”—1 John 4:8&16—also displays this love though all who share his life. Thus any absence of love and fellowship among Christians is revealing.

This life with God is, in fact, a “narrow way.” It displays a new but rare inward impulse of “love, joy, peace,” and more—in Galatians 5:22-23—which may seem overstated in a hard and broken world. But for those with his real life this love is genuine and growing. We might ask how many believers actually display the heart-radiance of Jesus. The rarity of his love should concern us.

As Jesus told Nicodemus, spiritual death persists through misguided loves. Eternal life comes by way of a new ambition. A transforming response to the Son’s love. This is where followers unite with God in his Kingdom. He invites everyone to it—“for God so loved the world….” But most “loved darkness rather than light…”

Repentance is crucial, especially for lukewarm Christians. “Lord, please open the eyes of my heart.” Life, and a changed way of living, is the third of the Son’s three identities in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” His life is the basis for success in our lives. His values are the ways of sound life. And his words are the truth. Real life, in place of Adam’s fantasies, only come by our full devotion to him.